Notes: Good pattern- clear instructions and charted. I opted not to re-created the "mistake" that author made and did three full repeats of the chart instead.

One of the great things about participating in Nerd Wars on Ravelry is that the various challenges they post every month make you think outside of the box. One challenge asked you to use something unusual or non-traditional when crafting a project. This could be making a drop spindle from a CD or knitting something with a couple pencils/chopsticks. I was kind of at a loss... until I saw one of my asian pears. They usually come wrapped in a puffy net sleeve to protect from bruising. Have you ever seen yarn sleeves? They are plastic mesh tubes that hold your yarn together as you use it. My pear-protector is the same thing!

Wednesday

I gave Dollar a few new embroidered handkerchiefs for his birthday last week:

More cow bell!

And an amp:

Flames:

I really like the flames- I used stem stitch because the design was all curvy lines. I used three colors to get a tonal effect. The pattern is an iron-on transfer, so I followed the lines with orange, then did yellow and red on either side of the orange.

I also gave him a couple pairs of handknit socks. And I made his birthday card. I feel a little bad, like, "Here, I made you this crap because I couldn't afford an iPad", but Dollar's the kind of person who likes homemade things better than purchased things. XOXO. Plus, I do enjoy making things for him because he appreciates it the most.

Monday

Yarn is Austermann Murano Lace. It's a nice size- not as long as an infinity scarf, not as tight as most cowls. Got to be a bit tedious to work on but it was a good project to work on during tv or a movie.

Dollar and I recently swapped his office and my craft room. His office area wasn't used much and the space was twice as large as my craft room (where stuff was kind of cramped and crowded). The move wasn't that big of a deal- in one afternoon I was able to take everything out and pile it into the dining room. The worst part of the deal for me was losing the closet. I had that closet stuffed with yarn, yo. Now... were to put it all in a room with zero closet space? I had to go out and get a new armoir and chest/bench. Which helped but... still... yarn... tubs... too much...

Working on a few different things now. Also need to take some pictures of Dollar's handmade birthday presents this week- can't wait to give them to him!

Friday

Fantastic, I'm coming down with another cold. I'm thankful it's a three-day weekend; more time to drink tea, snuggle with kitties, knit and try to kick this thing so it doesn't drag out for two weeks like the previous cold early October. I'm blaming the convention that I went to last weekend. I get sick every year after Carnage Con :(

Tuesday

Sometimes it takes me a while to make something because I usually only craft what I feel like making. I did a test knit once and it was a chore getting it done in time. I've made things for deadlines and it's always a pain-in-the-ass, rush-y/stress-y mess that narrowly avoids catastrophe. The only solution is to craft what INSPIRES me and CAPTIVATES me and yadda yadda yadda. It takes a fraction of the amount of time to finish something when you're into it than when you're forced to slog though every single hate-filled stitch.

So, two years after a friend of mine casually asked for a Cthulhu mask, I finally made it!

Two years. And the sad thing is that I've had the yarn for it in my stash for two years as well. I usually get a request for something, think to myself, "Oh yeah, I can totally do that and it will be awesome!", go out and buy the yarn... then wedge the yarn somewhere into my stash and file the pattern away in a binder (full of women).

I recently reorganized my stash and patterns. This pattern jumped out at me. I've never crocheted a hat or mask before but I know the basics. The only unfamiliar instructions were for crocheted ribbing around the neck of the mask.

I did a couple single crochet ridges above the eyes. For the mouth tentacles, I chained 45 stitches, then worked 2 stitches in each chain (all the extra stitches creates the spiral effect). I started with single crochets, then half-doubles, then double crochets- so the tips of the tentacles are more narrow than the ends that you attach to the face. Also, my chains were various lengths- 45 starting stitches was the longest. The shortest (the tentacles at the ends of the mouth) were only 30 stitches to start with.

This project was easy. The only hard part was sewing on all the stupid tentacles and weaving in all the ends.